Pages

Friday, September 30, 2016

I've been extremely lucky to live in Germany for the last 10 months! While I still haven't gotten out and seen and done nearly a fraction of what I'd like to have in that time, I've still managed a handful of REALLY cool experiences.

My most recent excursion was to Fernsehturm – the world's very first Television Tower! After just 20 months of construction in 1956, it was among the top ten tallest buildings, with a height of 217 metres (that's more than 710 feet).

My friends Stes and Paul had some family in town and invited me to tag along to see some sights. It was breathtaking and I already can't wait to return.

Free parking sits right out front which is always a convenient plus around here. There is a small playground next to a Beirgarten named Leonhardts at the foot of the tower, which would make for a wonderful day of relaxation with the family!

But the real treasure lies 150 metres in the sky. Inside the doors, is a minimalist gift shop where you also can purchase tickets to the observation platforms.

You can also purchase Season Pass tickets for the cost of less than four visits! There are also varying degrees of discounts for a number of reasons and times.

So tickets in hand, we headed to the elevator that boasts a 36 second ride to the platform. The first level had bars that raised high above our heads and I felt very safe, even with a twinge of acrophobia. The views were astronomical!

Although it was roughly in the low 80's back on the ground, the wind makes for a whole different experience, so pack the sweaters! An even better view awaits up a small flight of stairs. The bars only came to my chest which allowed for some beautiful pictures without obstruction.

I haven't seen it during the day, so maybe I'm biased, but I think the evening was such a perfect time of day. We arrived around 8:30, which gave us still-lit scenery, and eventually sunset and city night lights.

After about 45 minutes of ooh and ahhs, we headed inside to the Panorama Cafe. The best part of this is that you don't sacrifice anything by taking a break in here. With full surrounding picture windows, you can enjoy the glorious scenery while enjoying a warm cup of coffee and avoiding the wind.

During the day this place is a sun filled spot, and at night it transforms into a low lit lounge style setting with full bar options.

Along with our yummy warm beverages, we all got a slice of pie/torte and, having tasted them everyone's myself, each was as good as the last. Also, from what I saw, they were all under 4 € apiece, so you wont go broke here.

I will say the service was less than stellar, but I truly believe it was a fluke of sorts. After our coffees arrived, our server disappeared for more than 30 minutes, when all that was needed was to plate the sliced. We eventually flagged down another member of waitstaff and had our desserts delivered. But who can complain too hard about extra time to stargaze?

After another stop out on the platforms to enjoy the now dark skies, we begrudgingly headed back down.

The gift shop is filled with all kinds of collectible items, mostly in the shape of the tower. You will find buttons, tee shirts, pens, mugs, fridge magnets, rubber duckies, postcards, etc.

I plan on going back this weekend with just my husband for a much needed date night. I'm hoping to buy season passes soon, as well! I definitely see why this is among the top landmarks for the Stuttgart area. Whether you need a spot for touring visitors, a date, or an outing for your whole family, Fernsehturm is the perfect spot!

We hope you'll check them out if you haven't already! Don't forget to peek at the sidebar and check out what other giveaways we currently have going.

~~~

And now our favorite part - the FEATURES! We missed the party last week, so these are from two weeks ago. If you're one of our featured posts, we'd love it if you'd grab a button, and thanks to all of you who shared with us last week!

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Happy Tuesday! Welcome to the Party in Your PJs Link Party, where your posts will be seen on four different blogs each week. In addition to Kim from The Cookie Puzzle, you'll also find Party in Your PJs every Tuesday evening at Grandma Ideas, Wood of Bell Trees and... here!

You'll also find the Awesome Life Friday link-up here at RCHReviews, every Thursday evening at 8pm ET so we hope to see you there as well.

Are you ready to party? I can't wait to see what you've brought to share!

Meet the Co-Hosts

Kim is a small town girl who love simple things. Simple cookies, simple crafts and simple people. She is a wife, mother to one son and two adorable fur babies. Slightly addicted to reality TV and sitcoms, but she loves curling up with a good book or a good walk while listening to podcasts. You can find her at The Cookie Puzzle, where she shares her love for cookies and crafting.

How is this: Nina is wildly in love with her grandchildren. She delights in doing activities with them that strengthen their relationship –- playing games, doing crafts, snuggling, reading stories to them, and cooking together. She enjoys reading, technology, and traveling. (Tahiti is her most favorite place on earth!)

Lynda lives outside DC with her husband Michael and elderly beagle, Sadie. She and her daughter Jackie started RCHReviews as a way to spend time together in spite of living across country, and along the way they've added several friends as regular contributors. Between them all, they bring together many different perspectives and lifestyles with one common philosophy - try new things, have fun, and remember you are awesome!

2. Just like the party anything goes, but clear wonderful pictures with great descriptions are most successful.

3. Please no Spam ( Spammers will be deleted without warning)
4. If you pin to the Pinterest Board, please link to the Party in Your PJs Party also, the party runs from 7 pm Tuesdays-Midnight Saturday (Central Time)

5. Finally have fun and share this group board with blog friends and followers! The more success the group board is the more success you will see from your pins.

Want to be added to the group board? Follow our Party in Your PJs board and email Kim at thecookiepuzzle@gmail.com

All links are pinned to a Party Board...you can follow the board on Pinterest...feel free to follow the board, there is lots of inspiration to be found there.

Ok...let's party!

Rules
-Link to post, not your home page
-Link to something YOU made, wrote or thought
-No Etsy or Business Pages
-Link Parties, Roundups and Giveaways welcome
- Don't Link and Run! Please visit other links, make friends, learn something new, leave a comment, we all love comments
-If you were featured, grab a"Featured" button, found below.
-Consider adding our Party button to your Party Page or Post.

If you have children, you know that this is true: Tiny humans = big messes.

Seriously, how does that
happen? Big messes in their bedroom, big messes in the living room,
big messes in the bathroom, and big messes around the kitchen table.
What baby has not dropped food off of the high chair to see what
happened? I know that both of mine have and the one still does!

Being parents, we are always on the
lookout for the next thing to help contain the chaos, and we found a good answer with Mumma's Little Helpers. Mumma's Little Helpers is an
Australian company that makes high chair bibs that fit around most
any four legged high chair or dining room chair. These bibs are easy to care for, with most
cleaning being a simple wipe down, although they are machine
washable as well.

I got my gorgeous red and black helper
in a convenient matching pouch and knew that I had to put it on our
high chair right away.

It was a little confusing at first by just
looking at the product itself, but once I actually read the included directions, installation was super easy. There were three bits of
Velcro that had to be applied to the high chair, and were as easy as
stickers to get on.

Unfortunately after only a couple weeks, two of
the three bits of Velcro had come off of the chair, leaving the bib a
bit....floppy. This was easily enough fixed with some sticky back
Velcro I got at the craft store.

Boy, does this thing really help cut
down on messes from meals!

When my daughter decides that she is done
with eating, or that she does not care for apple slices today, and
drops her food to the floor, it is instead caught in this ingenious
little bib, and I don't have another gigantic mess on the floor to
clean.

All I need to do is to drop the back portion of the bib and
let the debris pour into the trashcan.

It also is handy for
catching dropped cups and plates, reducing the splatter mess.

I love
this high chair bib so much, I actually brought it with me on my
cross country trip, intending on using it at my father-in-law's
house, attaching it with the leftover sticky back Velcro I had gotten
earlier.

Unfortunately, he did not want the Velcro attached to the
beautiful wooden high chair he had, so I wasn't able to use it. I
really wish I could have, because not having it reminded me why I
really love it.

I think that every Mumma should have
one of these for their kiddos, it really makes life a bit less
stressful when you have one less mess to clean!

Mumma's Little Helper Highchair Bibs are available in several colors and patterns for between 40.00AUD and 65.00AUD, depending on size, and they will ship internationally for a extra fee.

Monday, September 26, 2016

So here we are, beginning Week Three in school, and my darling daughter is “sooooooo tiiiiiiired of sandwichessss” in her packed lunch.

Unfortunately, she also hates most veggies, so no salad. Chicken was also out of the question. Basically she had turned her nose up at most viable options. Nevermind the fact that she happily ate, sometimes two, sandwiches daily over the summer... Time to get creative!

These very simple Corndog Muffins pack well, can be eaten cold, and work equally well as an afternoon snack.

Corndog Muffins
(makes 12 muffins)

Ingredients
Cornbread mix (I like Krust-eaz, but whichever brand you prefer will do fine)
Hot dogs

I used boxed cornbread mix, but if you have a failproof recipe, by all means! Prepare the cornbread batter according to directions.

Spray a regular sized muffin tin with nonstick oil, and fill with prepared cornbread mix, roughly 1/3 of the way up the side of the muffin cup.

Thursday, September 22, 2016

We're so looking forward to seeing what you've been cooking, creating, growing, decorating, reviewing, giving away, and thinking about this week!

While you're here, leave your posts at the other link up we co-host here - Party in Your PJs! It starts on Tuesday evenings, and runs through Sunday. I hope you'll join us there as well!

I got busy last Thursday and totally forgot to set up the Awesome Life Friday Party - and then didn't even realize it until Friday was half over, whoops! I'll show off a few featured posts from the week before last and here's a bit of what we've all been up to:

We hope you'll check them out if you haven't already! Don't forget to peek at the sidebar and check out what other giveaways we currently have going.

~~~

And now our favorite part - the FEATURES! We missed the party last week, so these are from two weeks ago. If you're one of our featured posts, we'd love it if you'd grab a button, and thanks to all of you who shared with us last week!